Back in the day, about 1980, a punk band called Fang formed in Berkeley, Ca. They were local boys so my friends and I would go see them play often. They were a hard working band, big in the local scene alongside the likes of Flipper. The band suffered with a lot of drug problems though. This ultimately caused the lead singer, Sammie McBride "Sammytown", to be charged with the murder of his girlfriend in 1989. He was on the run for 6 months, before he was sentenced to 11 years for manslaughter and was released after only 6. Because of the short sentence, some people have a hard time reconciling with this. As soon as Sammytown was released from prison, he started up the band again with a new lineup and they've been playing ever since. Never playing anything more then dive bars and small venues.
Every time Nirvana, Metallica, Mudhoney, Butthole Surfers or Green Day covered a Fang song, accounts of the murder would make the rounds all over again. I have 2 friends who wouldn't go with me to see the band last night because of the murder, they're unable to forgive Sammytown. So I went alone. This is a band I followed and watched perform countless times, and this was the second time I've seen him post prison.
Charming, polite, soft-spoken, funny and extremely likable, Sammytown is not only clean and sober but he owns a sober living house for men, helping people find their own redemption and way in life as he still flounders, looking for his own. Sammytown has owned what he did and, as he raises his two kids, stays clean and works hard at his music and tattoo business, he continues to strive to be a better person.
Below is a great interview. In the interview with Eugene Robinson, McBride talks about his killing of his girlfriend in the 1980's, being wanted by Interpol for running an international acid ring, his prison confinement, stabbing fellow inmates, and more. This interview is one of the only (if not the only) times that McBride has talked about the murder with the press.
